Day Fifty-Seven – One of the Few Times I’ll Watch Oprah

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I have seen Oprah, willingly, only a few times. I can count the times on my right hand, though I can’t even remember specific episodes or reasons why. I just imagine this not being the first time I’d want to watch.

Roger Ebert is going to be a guest on her show, the first time he’s been on TV since he left At the Movies to a slew of guest hosts and two sets of replacements about four years ago. The interview will be airing on March 2nd – this coming Tuesday.

Roger Ebert will be back on the TV for Oprah on Tuesday March 2nd.

I’m a huge fan of Roger Ebert, even when I don’t agree with his taste in movies. His knowledge of film and the art, more so than the business, is admirable. I’ve read his books. I watched his show, with and without him, for years and I continue to read his reviews and blog on his website.

This all seems to stem out of the Esquire magazine article that was really well written. Titles of posts linking to the article, not so much. “Roger Ebert’s Last Words”, “Ebert’s Dying Days” and others like it were scattered throughout my Google Reader. Yes, it got me to read, but “Ebert’s New Outlook” would have generated the same interest from me. It was a little reminder of how disgusting the media can be at times, assuming people won’t be interested without some type of morbid angle. It gives me the creeps, like the Olympic coverage of the Georgian luger, except he actually parished.

The images included with the article, though, didn’t fall under the same category. Yes, they were a little exploitative. Yes, they were hard to look at. The difference is that Ebert agreed to have these pictures taken. It allows people to see it, have their reaction and get over it, much like he has had to. I respect him for having the courage to do so.

The odd time I’ve seen Oprah, her main goal seems to be to get people to weep around her. That’s the main reason I don’t watch most times. Last thing I want to do with my day at 4pm is to get all emotional because someone was bullied in school as a kid. Generally, her guests make the rounds anyway. Why watch Brad Pitt on Oprah, weeping about how great it is to be a father of 39, when I can watch him later on late night, crackin’-wise with Leno?

But it doesn’t seem like Ebert will be making the rounds. He’ll be making this stop here then returning to the website, so I’ll make an exception this time.